Roger Gracie Drops to Middleweight, Signs With Team Black House

The next time Roger Gracie fights, it will be in a new weight class, with new management by his side.

According to manager Ed Soares, Gracie has signed with Team Black House and has decided to move down to 185 pounds. Soares did not know when the Strikeforce fighter would make his middleweight debut.

Gracie joins the likes of Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira brothers in Team Black House, which is run by Soares and Jorge Guimaraes.

Tatame.com first reported the possibility of Gracie moving to 185 and signing with Black House last month.

The six-foot-four inch Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist hasn't been seen since losing his first pro MMA bout to Muhammed Lawal via knockout in September. The loss dropped Gracie's record to 4-1. Prior to the loss, Gracie defeated Kevin Randleman and Trevor Prangley in Strikeforce.

Should his move to 185 pounds prove to be a successful one, Gracie could help breathe new life into an otherwise shallow Strikeforce middleweight division.